Alginates from kelp:

The Norwegian national molecule

By Nina E. Tveter
Photo: Erling Svensen/OCEAN PHOTO

Norwegian kelp is the dominant raw material in Norwegian alginate production. Fully grown kelp can grow up to 3 metres long.

Most people are not aware of this, but alginate from kelp is a very common substance in our daily lives. It is used as a thickener in ice cream, light margarine and jam. It gives beer a better head and helps in the production of champagne. It ensures that the print dyes in paper and cloth will not smear. It is mixed into water-based paints for an even distribution of the pigments, and it improves the consistency of cough mixtures. It is used to purify drainage water from dairies, and in the coating of welding rods. In Asia, alginate is used to make imitation shark fins for use in shark-fin soup and is also an ingredient in noodle dough.

In addition, clinical research has demonstrated that insulin-producing cells encapsulated in alginate can help patients suffering from diabetes to lead a normal life.

Most of the amazing qualities of alginates have been disclosed and described right here, in research laboratories in Trondheim. For more than 40 years, dedicated and patient scientists from Trondheim have steadily obtained new, ground-breaking knowledge about this unique, long-chained molecule.

In order to make sure that this chapter of scientific history should not be lost, Mentz Indergaard has undertaken to preserve this chapter of history in book form. He carried out his own research on seaweed almost 10 years at what used to be the Department of Marine Biochemistry at the then Norwegian Institute of Technology.

Norway's national molecule

To explain why Norwegian scientists have been so successful in their work on this giant molecule, we need to look at a number of factors, says the author. He emphasizes the following points:

* The researchers have always insisted upon the importance of practical applications, even though they have been involved in pure rather than applied research.

* Alginate has proved to be a very versatile molecule, both as a model molecule for research on polysaccharides in general, and also as a raw material which constantly provides us with a range of new applications. Quite simply: the reasonable complexity of the molecule makes alginate just perfect for research.

* Kelp, which is the main source for the extraction of alginate, is found all along the Norwegian coastline, and the best growing conditions in the world can actually be found along the Trøndelag coast (near to where the researchers are located).

* Furthermore, success can in part be attributed to the scientists' personal qualities. Patience and thoroughness have been dominant qualities, along with intuition and enthusiasm. Weeks and months of laboratory work lie behind each tiny advance, and although very few of these small steps forward have separately given concrete results, they all contribute to building up an accumulated understanding of fundamental new knowledge.

* In addition, scientists have been incredibly lucky as far as the alginate is concerned. Time and time again it has been shown to contain new and interesting properties. Without such a stroke of luck, alginate research would have been terminated 20 years ago.

* The number of scientists, doctoral students and technicians/laboratory assistants working with alginate in Trondheim has varied from 5 to 15 over a period of years. There have been a small number of alginate research teams abroad, but none of them have been so persistent, or have worked in such a concentrated way over such a long period of time, as the Trondheim group. This is probably the main key to the success of the Trondheim scientists.

Since 1993, Mentz Indergaard has been busy collecting material on the history of alginate research. Professor Olav Smidsrød who was one of the central researchers in the field, has been invaluable in documenting this work.

Coffee-breaks as incubators

Indergaard wants to publish more than just a factual history:

­ In addition to documenting the milestones in alginate research, I also want to include various details and anecdotes, so that readers will be able to get a more rounded view of the day-to-day realities of research life, in the laboratory as much as during coffee-breaks. His opinion is that coffee-breaks are undervalued as 'incubators' for bright ideas. Several breakthroughs in alginate research have developed out of ideas that were first proposed over a cup of coffee.

He also wants to capture all the creativity and more mundane elements in the research team's activities.

­ Alginate scientists have always been a closely knit social group. At parties we would often have a song or two about the challenges and discoveries associated with alginate research. At present we have a collection of about 40 departmental songs, which relate important elements of the history of our research.

Norwegian coast in tins: The basement of one of NTNU's chemistry buildings contains thousands of tins with dried samples of seaweed that were collected during the 1950s.

50 years more?

­ How far has alginate research come today?

­ We have now succeeded in charting the chemistry of alginate, and we have a very good overview of its properties. We have discovered a series of enzymes which have the ability to change the alginate, to transform a 'dog-eared' alginate into a high-quality one. But it still remains to put such knowledge to industrial use.

Many people think research is a matter of serendipidous discoveries and aha-experiences. In fact, months and often years of testing hypotheses are usually required to give well-founded, applicable knowledge, explains the author. The photo shows Kari Røbech, a lab worker, at the end of the 1950s.

­ Does alginate hold a sufficient numbers of unsolved mysteries to keep scientists busy for another 40 years?

­ Well, as early as the Middle Ages it was believed that all the enigmas in science had been solved... 40 years ago, alginate scientists also believed that they would have mapped out all of its elements and chemical composition within 10 to 15 years. They are still working at it today. But the way it looks now, this research area will probably be exhausted within the next 40 years, the author estimates.

The driving force who initiated alginate research was Professor Arne Haug. Alginate research in Trondheim has worn many hats in different institutions. In reality, it is the continuation of the work by the same professional body: Norwegian Institute for Seaweed Research (NITT 1950-67), Department of Marine Biochemistry (1967-83), Department of Biotechnology (1983-) and the associated NOBIPOL (Norwegian Biopolymer Laboratorium 1986-)